Albuquerque chapter celebrates ‘Constitution Day’

September 17, 2012

Freedom From Religion -Albuquerque, the Freedom From Religion Foundation's chapter in Albuquerque, N.M., is placing a paid advertisement in the the Albuquerque Journal on Monday, Sept. 17, "Constitution Day." The U.S. Constitution was ratified on Sept. 17, 1787.

The ad takes umbrage at the religious-right spin of regular Hobby Lobby ads, which seek to portray the United States as a Christian nation.

"We feel it is important to respond to the full page 'In God We Trust' ad placed by Hobby Lobby in the Albuquerque Journal on July 4, which we have researched and found to be very inaccurate and deceptive," said Ron Herman, director of the chapter.

"Freethinkers can all celebrate the fact that the founders of our nation were first among nations to adopt a godless and entirely secular Constitution, whose only references to religion are exclusionary. It's not a coincidence that the U.S. Constitution is the longest-lived constitution in the world. Much of the success of this 'living document' is due to the fact that it places sovereignty not in a divinity, but in 'We the People,' " commented FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.

FFRF has 18,500 members nationwide, including over 200 in New Mexico.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wis., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational charity, is the nation's largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics), and has been working since 1978 to keep religion and government separate.